The controversy over Donald Trump and his administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case continues.
On Tuesday’s “The Beat,” Ari Melber delivered a “special report” laying out a timeline of Epstein’s case and tracing what he called a “sordid path” of crimes, investigations, corruption and deals with government insiders. Melber said the recap raised “fresh questions for Trump and other government officials.”
Melber began with the controversial 2008 “sweetheart deal” that federal prosecutors in Florida gave Esptein. That deal granted the millionaire immunity from prosecution on sex-trafficking charges. The MSNBC host said the “evasion of accountability” later created a problem for Trump during his first stint in the White House, after he promoted the prosecutor responsible for reaching that agreement with Epstein.
Eventually, Trump’s Justice Department would bring new charges against Epstein in 2019. But, just a month later, the millionaire was found dead in his jail cell from an apparent suicide under circumstances that sparked immediate conspiracy theories. “Everyone knew Epstein was a notorious, high-profile defendant, and yet he died,” Melber said.
The Epstein saga has continued to plague Trump into his second term. The president was heavily criticized by many members of the MAGA base after a Justice Department and FBI memo released by his administration found that there was no evidence Epstein had kept a “client list” or that he was murdered.
The administration also drew ire when Trump’s former personal lawyer turned deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, flew to Florida to question Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell. The president has repeatedly said he has the power to pardon Maxwell, who was moved to a lower security facility in Texas shortly after her conversation with Blanche.
“Even if we learn nothing else about this, it’s an open scandal for this administration,” Melber observed. Politics aside, Melber reminded viewers that at its core, “this is a case that matters so much to the many people, many victims, whose lives were forever altered by Epstein and Maxwell.” “The big thing the Trump administration has done is continue the secrecy, continue to cut the victims out, and, most astoundingly, help and serve an Epstein sex trafficking co-conspirator over truth or justice for the victims,” he said. You can watch Melber’s full timeline breakdown in the clip at the top of the page.
Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW.
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